Silver Snowflakes
by yukuro
Summary: People are like silver snowflakes; each with a different, unique pattern. A collection of fics for neglected side characters. [1: Kamio Akira, Ibu Shinji], [2: Kisarazu Atsushi], [3: Fuji Yuuta], [4: Yanagisawa, Kisarazu A.]
1. First Snow: Kamio Akira, Ibu Shinji

Disclaimer: yuku doesn't own the Tenipuri characters, unfortunately. ^^;;

Characters Featured: Kamio Akira, Ibu Shinji of Fudoumine

Pairing: slight Ibu + Kamio

            Silver Snowflakes

– First Snow –

            By: yukuro

            Snow is pure white, descending gently from the clouds of heaven. Snow falls from the sky to envelop the earth in its pure white, silently piling up while covering all beneath. It was said that every snowflake had a different pattern and that not one was the same. Snow was like people in a way. Both descending from some unknown place to the earth, covering the surroundings quickly, with each snowflake and person different from the rest. The only difference was that people would never be the pure color of white.

            The skies were gray this winter. The air was chilly and cold, the winter winds showing their effects even though Christmas had already past. People wore thick coats, scarves, and gloves to keep themselves warm. They bundled together as they walked down the street, talking merrily even as the atmosphere became slightly colder each day. Even though the temperature on the various faithful scales plummeted that one cold winter, not a single sign of snow appeared.

            Kamio Akira squinted up at the cloudy sky, a hand on his forehead as an unneeded shade. Sighing, he removed his headphones from his ears and carried them in his hand along with his CD player. Tachibana had asked them to skip practice that day, knowing that the cold weather could be hazardous to the young boys' health if they sweated too much.

            Putting his CD player away and sticking his hands in his pockets, Kamio walked quickly down the side of the street, moving his feet in little quick paces to keep himself warm. It was just another day today for him.

Just another day where his school hated him and his only friends were his fellow tennis team members. Everyone else who had heard of the incident before instantly disliked Kamio and the rest of the team, just for one thing that had been something they all believed in. Apparently no one else had thought so. Kamio didn't mind though. It was just another day after all.

            Somehow he had gotten used to being hated for the past, only appreciated by shallow girls for his looks. Kamio wasn't stupid though. He knew the true source of his strength was his best friend Shinji, Tachibana-san, and the rest of the Fudoumine team. Without them, Kamio knew he could not stand as tall as he was able to that day.

            Just as a cold slap of wind blew into his face, Kamio shivered, hopping from one foot to the other. He suddenly wished he had worn another jacket. It was much too cold for him to be wearing a single jacket in the kind of weather he was facing. He rubbed his hands together, desperate for warmth.

            Leaning over to breathe warm air onto his hands, Kamio blinked when he felt someone drop a scarf around his neck. Looking up in curiosity, the redhead opened his mouth to say something to the person who dropped the scarf. "Excuse me, I think you—… Shinji?"

            "What?" Ibu Shinji asked carelessly, only glancing at his friend. "You don't have to sound so surprised. It's not like I can't pass you on the street. Stop staring at me like that. Did I do something wrong?"

            Kamio blinked once again before laughing slightly. Standing up straight, the redhead slowly and reluctantly removed the warm scarf from his neck. The skin on his neck tingled slightly from the loss of warmth, but he shrugged it off and held the scarf out towards his friend. "Did you drop this?"

            "No," Shinji responded, shuffling forward. Quietly, he stuck his hands into his pockets. "I didn't drop it," the long haired boy said, looking straight ahead, "I gave it to you because you looked cold. Aren't you?"

            "I…guess I am," Kamio said slowly, his fist closing around the scarf. He grinned gratefully at Shinji's back. He was actually extremely grateful. Kamio just didn't exactly feel like saying he was freezing to the point where he couldn't think straight. Even jumping around didn't do much, and he couldn't exactly run through such a busy crowd to keep warm. "Thanks, Shinji."

            "You're really useless, Kamio," Shinji muttered, turning around to take the scarf out of his friend's hand. Face as calm as ever, the long haired boy gently wrapped it around Kamio's neck. "Instead of trying to thank me, why don't you show me you appreciate it by putting it on? Baka."

            Face tinting slightly red when Shinji's smooth hands brushed against his cheeks, Kamio shifted his eyes away. "Oh…I guess you're right. Thanks again, Shinji… You're always looking out for me, aren't you?"

            "I have to," Shinji replied, letting his hands dropped to his sides as he studied Kamio's expression. "If I don't look out for you, who else will? You don't look out for yourself enough. Besides…I guess that's just what friends are for. I know you'd do the same for me."

            Quickly returning his gaze to his serious friend's face, Kamio grinned sheepishly, bringing his hand to the back of his head. "Yeah… You're right. It's the same with everyone else too. After all we've been through together…"

            Kamio sighed, his grin quickly disappearing as he walked ahead with Shinji beside him. "You know, there's something that's been on my mind lately," Kamio began, his voice soft. He remembered that before he would always come to Shinji with his problems, and he knew Shinji always let him talk about whatever he wanted. Although he wasn't sure if Shinji was listening most of the time, it was still a comfort having someone to talk to. Lately, they didn't seem to talk as much anymore… "In just a few months Tachibana-san is going to graduate. Where will that leave us? I mean, as a team?"

            "We all know our team isn't going to last forever," Shinji said softly as they paused at the side of a street, waiting for the walk sign. "It's not like we can cling to Tachibana-san for support forever. We all have to grow and learn to stand on our own. Support isn't always there when it's needed; we were just lucky to get the support we needed at that time. Time after time, we will stumble for sure, but it's not like we can't back up and try harder again. That is just the way to grow stronger. Kamio, you're going to be the captain next year, and I know you will do fine in leading us. As a team. Besides, it's not like we can change what happened in the past. We can only move on, right?"

            "I almost forgot how much I missed talking to you," Kamio admitted with a gentle laugh as they crossed the street together. "I guess I just thought you weren't always listening."

            "There _are_ a lot of things you ramble on about endlessly, you know," Shinji replied a bit dryly, looking up at the sky. "Sometimes I wonder what you're talking about and you're always yelling about it. You're really loud, you know. It's hard to pay attention to you when you're yelling in my ear. But…" the long haired boy slowed his mumbling down and glanced at his friend, "I will pay attention if it's really important to you."

            "Why is that?" Kamio asked out of curiosity, looking at his friend through his red bangs. Laughing, the redhead suddenly burst out, "You sound so serious, Shinji! I'm really glad you care though. I mean, if I find out my best friend doesn't even listen to me, I don't know if the team will."

            "I only do it because I prefer to see your smiling face," Shinji mumbled under his breath. "Your smile always makes me feel better."

            "Sorry, I didn't hear you. What was that?" Kamio asked, leaning closer to hear Shinji's mumbling better. Cupping his ear with his hand, the redhead still hopped from foot to foot to keep warm.

            "Nothing," Shinji said, his face never changing. Walking straight ahead, he said off-handedly, "I just said that I did it to keep you quiet."

            "Funny that you're the one saying that," Kamio said, raising an eyebrow, quickly stuffing his hands back into his pockets. He grinned again when Shinji simply grunted in response before muttering something quietly. Kamio sighed and glanced at the gray sky. Smile still hanging on his lips, he commented softly, "It's really starting to get cold these days, ne, Shinji?"

            "That's what happens in the winter," Shinji replied dully, stopping in his tracks when Kamio suddenly halted. Turning to face his friend, Shinji studied the redhead for a moment. It was odd, he thought, that the longer he looked at Kamio's face, the faster his heart seem to beat and the warmer his cheeks felt. It was stupid though. Kamio could be used during the winter to heat his face up, Shinji thought randomly to himself.

            "I…don't want to go home yet," Kamio said suddenly, eyes locking with his friend's. "I don't want to go back to my responsibilities for a little while. I need to be free for just a little longer…and I want to talk to you longer, even if it's only for a little while. Let's go somewhere, Shinji. Anywhere."

            "What do you mean when you say 'anywhere,' huh?" Shinji started, "'Anywhere' could be a lot of places. I mean, it could be Antarctica which is even colder than here. If you're cold here you can't say 'anywhere' because 'anywhere' could also mean somewhere colder and you're already cold. Otherwise you wouldn't be jumping around right now. You're kind of like a rabbit. It's funny to see you jumping up and down and you're fast so you're really like a rabbit, except without the ears and how loud you are since rabbits don't make noise…"

            Shaking his head, Kamio grabbed Shinji's arm and pulled him along. He had only caught about half of whatever Shinji was mumbling about. Spotting a park across the street, Kamio dragged his friend across, sitting down in a bench facing the bare trees in the park.

            "What was the point of this again?" Shinji asked quietly, still standing. He slowly tilted his head to the side to look at Kamio's relaxed face. It made him relax seeing Kamio like that. Shinji turned his head the other way and let a few long bangs fall into his eyes.

            "Nothing really, I guess," Kamio said slowly, stealing glances at his friend. "Come here, Shinji. Sit down next to me."

            Slowly, Shinji took a seat next to the redhead, hair still hanging in his eyes. He sat up straight, keeping silent as he listened to Kamio's slightly stressed breathing. "Is something bothering you? You wanted to talk, right?"

            Turning to face his long haired friend, Kamio smiled slightly. "Yes," he began, reaching out to tuck Shinji's bangs behind his ears. "I guess I've just got a lot to worry about lately. There's so much that I'm concerned about, but I don't want you all to worry. I mean, I know you all have problems of your own and mine on top would just be a burden."

            "That doesn't mean you should keep everything to yourself though," Shinji muttered quietly, leaning back against the bench slightly. "When you don't say anything to us, we get worried. The other day when Tachibana-san took you to see the nurse, Ishida and Sakurai were saying that they were worried you had too much stress. Mori yelled out some kind of agreement, but he was so loud everyone within a five mile vicinity heard him, I think. Even Uchimura somewhat…nodded…"

            Kamio laughed to hear his teammates' behavior. His smile lingered on his lips. It felt good to smile, especially when he was with a friend like Shinji. They had always been good friends, before and after the incident of the tennis team. But it was that incident that strengthened their relationship, yet slowly drew them apart as well. "What about you then?" Kamio asked teasingly. "Do you worry about me too?"

            "I'm always worried about you," Shinji mumbled, dropping his voice. "I can never stop thinking about you. Why do you do that to me? Why can't I ever get you out of my head?"

            "Shinji?" Kamio removed a hand from his pocket to place on the boy's shoulder. His brow furrowed. "I'm sorry, I can't hear a word you're saying. Could you maybe…speak a little louder? I do want to understand you, you know."

            "It's nothing," Shinji replied, raising his voice slightly so Kamio could hear him. He twisted his icy fingers together in his lap. Was this what Kamio felt like when he said he didn't want to heap his own problems on to someone else? Shinji didn't know if it was because he couldn't keep his feelings together or if it was that Kamio was simply deaf. "I'll get rid of these problems someday," Shinji muttered to himself, extremely quietly. "Maybe I can even tell him about these feelings…"

            "Hey, Shinji," Kamio started again, tapping his feet. "I want you to know that I'm looking out for you too. I don't want you to think that you have to baby sit me all the time. I'll do my best to take care myself better, if you do the same. Promise me something though. Since I'm always telling you all my problems, tell me yours too. If you won't tell me as a teammate or vice captain…then as a friend. I do consider you to be one of the people that I care about most."

            "I don't have any problems," Shinji blurted out. Squeezing his eyes shut for a minute, mentally scolding himself for almost letting his feelings slip. He slowly opened them, his emotions well masked again. "Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself first."

            "I really doubt you have no problems in life," Kamio said with a light laugh. "How can you ask me to do something if you don't do so yourself? Do you really think I don't care about you at all, Shinji?"

            "Maybe you just don't understand how much I care about you."

            Kamio blinked for a moment as a gust of cool wind blew Shinji's hair back into his face. The redhead looked into his friend's deep eyes and realized that he was serious. How serious, Kamio was unsure. It didn't matter though, because he smiled anyway.

Some strange feelings stirred within him, but he ignored them for now. If they were about Shinji, Kamio knew that his friend would always be there. Shinji was always reliable in the past and promised to be in the future. Kamio trusted him. If these confusing, fluttering feelings were about Shinji, Kamio knew Shinji would wait for him.

            "Wait for me for a while, Shinji," Kamio said with a soft smile. "Not long; just for a little while. I care for you a lot. As a friend, maybe even like a brother… Trust me when I say you're one of the ones most important to me."

            "Fine," Shinji muttered still, staring straight back into Kamio's eyes with a serious expression. "I don't exactly understand it myself, but that's ok. I can wait until I've become the most important person to you. You might have filled that spot for me already anyway."

            "There's still time for us," Kamio said quietly, breaking away from the long haired boy's gaze to stare at his hands. "There's still time…"

            "But how much?" the other boy asked as another cool gust of air blew between them. "How much time is left before we eventually have to part? We both don't know when it could happen. Time will eventually split us apart to different places, no matter how strong our friendship is. Nothing really lasts forever."

            "Our friendship will," the redhead said confidently, clenching his fist. "I'll make sure it will. "In this past year, you and the team have become so important to me, that I'm afraid of losing you all every day. I don't really want to have that fear…but I understand about time. Distance doesn't matter when it comes to friendship. Only the bonds and layers of that friendship matter, and if those ties are strong, not even time can break them."

            "You have to be extremely confident in the human spirit to say that," Shinji said quietly, looking down at Kamio's balled fist. "I want to feel the same way as you…but I can't really believe people can defeat time. It's because, as humans, we're all tainted creatures. There's nothing that can change that."

            "That's why I like the snow," the redhead sighed softly. Scanning the darkened sky. "It's really pure and spotless when it comes from the sky. When it falls, it covers everything. From the ground to rooftops, everything becomes the color of snow. I think that if we have enough patience and wait for the snow, then it will fall from the sky and cover everything up again. Somewhat like a new beginning, I guess… But look," Kamio smiled as his eyes followed the first snowflake falling from the sky until it landed gently on Shinji's shoulder, "the first snow is beginning to fall. It's surely a sign that there will be a new beginning, starting it out pure and white."

            "You're such an optimist, Kamio," Shinji replied hazily, the corner of his mouth very slightly turning up in a kind of half smile. "I like the things you say though. You're always using pretty words…when you're not yelling and ranting about pointless things that is."

           "And you give good advice when you're not mumbling to yourself all the time," Kamio shot back, a smile playing at his lips as well. He glanced at Shinji's hands, frowning when he noticed how red they were. Slowly, he reached out and touched them gingerly. "Ah! Shinji, you're hands are like ice!"

            "I guess we've been sitting out here for too long," Shinji commented in a monotone, twisting his fingers together. "People aren't supposed to sit outside in the winter for too long. It's bad for their health. Now we're going to get sick and when we won't be able to school, everyone will get worried and our problems are going to get worse. I guess it's my fault for letting you come out here though. I should have made you go home and—…"

            Kamio cut Shinji off when he took the boy's hand in his and twined their fingers together. Leaning over, the redhead slowly blew warm air on their cold hands and rubbed them together. Sighing, Kamio moved closer to his friend until their arms were on top of each other. Unwrapping the scarf partially from his neck, Kamio wrapped the other half around Shinji's neck, resting his head on the other boy's shoulder. "Hn, and you call me an idiot."

            "What are you going to say to people if they see us like this?" Shinji asked in a low voice, shifting his eyes as he felt his cheeks warm up. Kamio's hands were so warm… "Won't people think it's weird? I don't care, but you…"

            "Shinji, does it really matter what other people think?" Kamio asked dryly, "Now to make up for all the times I've been ranting and you've been mumbling can we just sit here quietly for a minute? I like spending time with you more than I care about what people think."

            Shinji blinked a few times, but let his body relax. Funny the way Kamio's hands fit so perfectly together with his and how their fingers twined so easily. Shinji remembered what he had thought about earlier. Kamio really _could_ be used to warm him up during the winter. "It's still cold."

            "I know that," Kamio said almost irritably. "If you don't think about it, you wouldn't notice it as much."

            "How can you not notice it?" Shinji mumbled, "It's almost as bad as Mori's yelling. He's even louder than you. Except he doesn't rant, and he's really just loud…"

            "The sky's really gray," Kamio said loudly, finding a smile twitching at his lips again.

            "Gray is my favorite color," Shinji went on, switching topics as Kamio brought them up. "The sky is gray because of the clouds, and the clouds are gray because it's snowing. So is it ok to say that the sky is gray because it's snowing? That's probably why it's so cold outside."

            "Shinji, does it really bother you _that_ much?" Kamio asked finally, removing his head from the other boy's shoulder to look at him pointedly. "If the weather really bothers you that much we can go home."

            "…That's alright," Shinji said slowly. Relieving himself from the stress he had on his face, Shinji leaned forward to rest his forehead on Kamio's shoulder.  He smiled slightly into the crook of his friend's neck. "It's better being here with you… Besides, I said I'd wait for you for a long time. As long as you need…"

            "I'll still need a little time though… Shinji…" Kamio trailed off, feeling his cheeks flush slightly.

            "That's fine," Shinji said quietly in response. "The first snow is the sign of a new beginning, right? From where I am, I can see the snow falling. Slowly, but it won't be long before it covers everything. If it's you, I can wait."

            "I knew you would," Kamio said, a smile slowly spreading across his face as he closed his eyes to rest his head on top of Shinji's. "I wouldn't have asked for time if I didn't think you'd wait for me."

            "I will…as long as it takes. It's only the first snow of the winter after all."

            Owari.

---

**A/N:** That was probably the shortest, most really pointless fic I've written. *_* oh, but I had so much fun writing it! I just love writing stories where people have long, pointless conversations with ridiculously pretty words xD plus, I love Kamio and Shinji to pieces x)

These two were too fun to write about ^_______^; I'll definitely write more about them sometime.

Ah…I wonder which character I should write about next ^^;; Shinji and Kamio do get some attention (not enough in my opinion), and same with other characters like Sengoku and Jirou. *shrug* I just wanted to try writing a few fics that _don't_ involve the Seigaku boys. U_u; as much as I do love them *lol*

Ah, I'm working on the next chapter/fic for this. About another random character o_o; as the way things are turning out, looks like it may be Kisarazu-kun from St. Rudolf (for those of you who don't know: he's the guy with the red headband who plays doubles with Yanagisawa the "da ne" duck o_o)

Thanks for reading! Character/Pairing requests and suggestions would be much appreciated! ^^;; Leave a review if possible. Thanks again!


	2. Ice Barrier: Kisarazu Atsushi

**Disclaimer: **though yuku would like to own the Tenipuri characters (yes, even those little side characters that barely have any fans x.x), she doesn't. yuku only likes to torture them every once in a while x)

**Characters Featured:** Kisarazu Atsushi of St. Rudolf (formerly of Rokkaku), misc. appearing Rokkaku and St. Rudolf regulars

            Silver Snowflakes

                        – Ice Barrier –

            Kisarazu Atsushi and Ryou were inseparable when they were young. "Were" being the key word. From the times they played together in Rokkaku's playground, wearing matching clothes and growing their hair out, somehow they began to drift apart as all siblings do. It was different for Atsushi and Ryou though. How was it that identical twins could create such a large gap between themselves?

            Atsushi bounced the yellow tennis ball on the floor, catching it quickly before dropping it again. He sighed to himself as he shifted his tennis racket bag on his shoulders. Catching the ball again and stuffing it in his pocket, Atsushi looked straight ahead where his school was coming into sight.

            Walking onto campus, exchanging polite "good morning" calls with a few of his classmates that called out to him, Atsushi felt the familiar excitement tingling in his stomach as he walked towards the tennis courts. A tiny smile found its way to his lips as he approached the courts, watching his teammates chase ball after ball in their red uniforms.

            It was Atsushi's second year of junior high, and he attended Rokkaku Chuu with his twin brother. They had both signed up for the tennis club right away and happily joined practices. Both were skilled players and instantly welcomed into the club. The twins were often put together in doubles, and for a while, they dealt with it. Atsushi didn't mind being with his brother, but lately he began to notice Ryou's frustration each time they were paired together. It was almost as if the boy was angry about being paired with his twin brother.

            Touching the chain linked fence, Atsushi scanned the courts until he saw his older brother, already dressed in his red Rokkaku uniform, practicing by himself in a corner. A faint smile appeared on Atsushi's face before it slowly disappeared. Ryou had begun to walk to school early, purposely leaving his twin behind. His excuse was often that he needed "extra practice." Even when it was time to walk home after practice, Ryou would go a different route than Atsushi.

            Pulling away from the gate, the second year closed his eyes and sighed. He hated the way things were. He hated the fact that his own twin was constantly ignoring him, pretending as if he didn't even exist. Time and time again, Atsushi had to wonder… What had he done wrong? What had he done to make Ryou act this way?

            "Yo, Atsushi. You're here early today."

            Turning his head slightly to look over his shoulder, Atsushi smiled slightly at his teammate. A few long bangs fell into his eyes as he said politely, "Morning, Shudou. I was just thinking I should try to get here earlier to get more practice."

            The tall boy gave him a slightly skeptic look, but managed a slight smile. Leaning against the fence, Shudou Satoshi glanced over his shoulder at the corner where Ryou was practicing. Shifting his gaze towards the other twin at his side, he commented quietly, "Ryou's been coming much earlier than he needs to lately. Sorry if I'm being nosy, but is there something wrong with you two?"

            "I…don't really know," Atsushi admitted, his eyes redirecting themselves towards his twin again. Looking wistfully at his brother, Atsushi lifted his hand to the gate again. "I was thinking maybe I might have done something wrong, or something to have made him angry. I can't think of anything though. He barely even talks to me at home anymore. Has he…said anything to you?"

            "Sorry," Shudou said apologetically. Resting his hands behind his head and leaning against the gate, the tall Rokkaku regular closed his eyes. "Things will work out for you eventually though. No matter what happens, you'll always be brothers, you know? There's nothing stronger than that bond, even when it seems like it'll break."

            Atsushi blinked for a moment before grinning at the other boy. "Thanks, Shudou," he said brightly with a small, grateful smile. "Are you trying to cheer me up?"

            Feeling his cheeks tint slightly, the light haired boy quickly changed his position and scratched the side of his face. "Aha… Just some sentimental stuff I picked up from Sae. Anyway, my point is, don't go stressing yourself out too much, ok? The team's not the same without you."

            "I got it," Atsushi said with a rather childish nod. The movement of his head caused parts of his long hair to fall into his face. Slowly pulling his hair back out of his face, Atsushi glanced at the ground. Maybe hadn't noticed the good friends he had made here. Ever since he was little, he had wanted to play tennis at Rokkaku. His teammates now were already friends from the past who had wanted the same thing as he. Looking back up at the light haired boy, Atsushi said firmly yet gratefully, "Thanks, Shudou."

            "No problem," Shudou began, a smirk drawing on his face. Holding his racket over his shoulder, he started towards the courts, waving his free hand at the other boy. "You can just buy me a drink later to show how much you appreciate me. See you at practice!"

            Atsushi laughed slightly and rolled his eyes. Friends were friends, no matter how strange they were. Pausing for a moment before he went out to the courts, he gazed out at the ocean that was clearly in view.

The ocean was so mysterious. Sometimes it was gentle and calm, bringing in little waves and smooth currents. Other times, it was clashing and dangerous with  storm waters raging high, sending crashing waves in every direction. He had grown up by the sea, and had learned to love it. There was a connection he had with the ocean somehow… Or maybe it was just because the unpredictable moods of the ocean were too much like those of his twin. Funny the way the similarities were… Atsushi didn't mind though. He loved his twin just as much as he loved the ocean.

The cool sea breeze blowing gently through his hair, Atsushi walked ahead towards the clubroom. His hands gripped the straps of his racket bag tightly with concentration. Shudou was probably right. Things would eventually work out between Ryou and him. He just had to be patient enough to wait until Ryou was ready. Atsushi would wait, and while he did so, he would continue doing what he loved: tennis.

            Opening the door of the clubroom, Atsushi quickly stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Walking towards the shelves, he removed his bag from his shoulder and took out his clothes. Just as he unbuttoned the first button on his shirt, he realized he was being watched. Blinking, he looked up to see Saeki smiling cheerfully at him. "S-Saeki, you startled me."

            "Well, you just walked in without saying anything to me," Saeki responded with a lazy grin, holding out his hand. "Well, I'd say there's apparently something wrong with you, Kisarazu ototou. Want to tell me about it?"

            "It's nothing," Atsushi said simply, unbuttoning his shirt again. Sliding his school uniform off and pulling the tennis club shirt over his head, the dark haired boy said politely, "Thanks anyway."

            Laughing, Saeki patted the boy on his back. "You don't have to be so polite all the time! We're friends, aren't we, Kisarazu? You're so serious and mature all the time. Ha, the way you act is just too cute."

            Unsure of how to respond, Atsushi simply blinked at the other boy as he bent over to pick up his racket. He wasn't exactly sure how to react when his teammate just laughed at him and called him "cute." Blushing slightly, the dark haired boy glanced at the door. "We better get to practice before we're late…"

            Saeki grinned at the slightly younger boy and picked up his own racket. He loved to tease people; it was just too much fun. "You know, it _is_ ok for you to smile more often. I think I've only seen you smile a few times and even then they were really tiny smiles."

            "I guess," Atsushi said with a sigh, "I just don't really have a lot of things to be happy about anymore. I'm too worried about my brother…"

            "Are you saying he's dragging you down with him?" Saeki asked with interest, raising his eyebrow as he opened the door for them both. "I noticed he's been kind of angry and silent lately. I wasn't too sure what was going on, so I kept out of it. But let me guess…I'll bet the situations you're both in have something to do with each other, right?"

            "…Maybe," Atsushi muttered, walking out the door and towards the courts. He walked silently with Saeki smiling easily at his side. Atsushi knew that he and Ryou were drifting, but he wanted to believe his twin would stop walking in the opposite direction for a while and wait for him to catch up… instead of running faster and faster until he was completely out of sight.

            "Look, I just don't want to play doubles with Atsushi anymore, ok?!"

            Startled, Atsushi and Saeki halted where they were. Atsushi looked up in surprise and Saeki's smile disappeared and melted into a serious expression of concern. Silently staring at his older brother, Atsushi remained silent as Ryou argued with the captain.

            The captain's eyes trailed away from Ryou's angry face and rest on Atsushi's saddened one. "I think," he began, returning his calm gaze to Ryou, "that you need to talk it over with your brother first. I'd like to have a reason for breaking up one of the best doubles pairs we have."

            Ryou's brow furrowed. He suddenly felt a jolt of pain in his heart. It was sadness and confusion, but it wasn't his… Eyes still sharp, Ryou turned to see his mirror image staring silently at him. Clenching his fist, he said in a quavering voice, "I'm tired of it, Atsushi."

            Confused and surprised, Atsushi slowly took a step towards his brother, trying to understand what his brother was saying with all the mixed emotions he was getting through their twin link. "Aniki, what—"

            "Don't interrupt me right now!" Ryou quickly cut him off, eyes blazing. His clenched fist until he began to leave imprints of his fingernails in his palm. His voice rose slightly higher in volume until he was shouting. "I'm tired of playing doubles with you! I don't want you following me all of the time! I'm tired of turning around and seeing _myself_  staring back at me! Why don't you do something different from me?! Grow up, Atsushi! I want, no, I _need_ a break from you!"

            "Hey, don't you think that's a little harsh?" Saeki interjected, a frown setting on his face. Brows furrowed, the light haired boy took a step towards the older twin. "He's your twin brother. He can't help it if he wants to be like you. You can't change the person he is."

            "It's ok, Saeki," Atsushi said quietly, reaching out to grab Saeki's arm before the light haired boy advanced further on his twin. He forced a shaky smile on his face as Ryou quickly strode away with Shudou instantly walking after him. "He just needs to blow off some steam. Could you…do me a favor?"

            "Sure," Saeki said softly with a slow sigh. He didn't think the situation would get this bad. "Anything you want. What is it?"

            His shaky smile slowly disappearing, the younger boy let his arm drop as he responded quietly, "Please tell Maeda-sensei I won't be coming to class today."

            "What?" Saeki instantly asked, frustration building on his face. His frown deepened when Atsushi took a step backwards, lowering his head until his bangs hid his eyes from view. Saeki quickly took a step forward and reached out for the other boy's arm. Sternly, he said, "Atsushi, you can't just leave…"

            "I need to," Atsushi said bluntly, pulling his arm away before Saeki could grasp it. "Excuse me," he mumbled quickly before turning to dash off the courts. He ignored his teammates' calls for him to return. It didn't matter what they thought if his own twin didn't care. Through the feelings they shared, Atsushi already knew Ryou was serious about all that he had said. Like an ocean's wave, emotions crashed through their ties and poured straight into Atsushi's heart. Ryou really did want a break from his twin.

            _That's fine_, Atsushi thought to himself as he grabbed his tennis bag from the clubroom and quickly dashing out again. He squeezed his eyes shut as he ran away from the tennis courts. _If that's what he wants, then I'll go away for a while…_

            His feet carried him away from the ocean, away from the sparkling waters. His feet carried him for hours in a desperate run until he found himself standing in front of the train station. Panting slightly, Atsushi stared up at the sign by the ticket booth. He needed to get away…

            "Excuse me, Miss?" the woman behind the counter said a bit doubtfully as she called out to the long haired teen standing before her window. "Can I help you?"

            "Yes," Atsushi said, closing his eyes as he slid money on the counter. He was too polite to even bother to correct her mistake. "The next train departing from the station, please. The destination doesn't matter."

            "There will be a train leaving to Tokyo in three minutes, would you like to board?" the woman asked with a friendly smile, accepting the money as she prepared the ticket with a stamp.

            "Yes, please," the boy said quietly, without much thought on the matter.

            "Would you like to purchase a ticket for a round trip? The train back will be departing from Tokyo at four pm today," the woman went on, sliding the boy his ticket. Her smile was gentle and almost understanding. Atsushi only wished she understood the position he was in.

            A part of him screamed "no!" After what had happened with his twin today, Atsushi felt the pang of being unwanted. There was nothing more he wanted than to run away and never come back. He was being insensible though. He was not a child anymore, and he couldn't always run from his problems. Maybe that was why… "Yes."

            "Thank you and have a safe trip."

            With a slight nod, Atsushi gently pushed through the crowd, apologizing as he went. He paused in front of the train with conflicting emotions. He wasn't sure what he was doing…

            "Final boarding call for Chiba to Tokyo!"

            There wasn't much he understood at all. The only thing he felt as he stepped onto the train, was the lingering feelings of fiery anger from his other half. That was the pain of being identical twins, he thought to himself. Unwanted emotions were always stored in the heart, whether they were his or his brother's.

           Staring absent mindedly out the window, Atsushi watched silently as trees and house whizzed by. Ryou was right, he supposed. They probably needed some time apart. Suddenly, Shudou and Saeki's earlier comforts didn't seem as helpful as they did before. Without realizing it, Atsushi slowly drifted off into a light, uneasy sleep.

            Time passed by quickly as the boy slept. The minutes melted together, making it seem like time had flown by. Atsushi was jerked away by the arrival call. Rubbing his eyes sleepily, he picked up his racket bag and exited the train. Tokyo wasn't an unfamiliar place to him. He had visited the city a few times, but he never wandered around.

            Gripping the straps of his racket bag, Atsushi let his feet lead him around. He didn't pay much attention to where he was going. Atsushi only stared at the ground as his feet carried him down the streets and away from the large crowds of people. By the time he looked up, the tall buildings of the city part of Tokyo were behind him.

            Shuffling ahead quietly, Atsushi perked up slightly when he heard the familiar sound of rackets and tennis balls. Snapping his head up to look around, the boy noticed a few courts just up ahead with a few boys with white and gray jerseys rallying easily.

            Curiously, Atsushi approached the courts, climbing up a small grass hill in the process. He watched with silent excitement as the boys hit impressive shots to each other, working hard to return each ball that was hit to them in return as well. They weren't exactly like the way his teammates back at Rokkaku practiced, but they were good, Atsushi had to admit.

            "Hey, you! Girl over there in the red shirt!"

            Atsushi blinked as a tall fairly dark skinned boy pointed a racket in his direction from across the courts. Confused, he looked from side to side, looking for a girl as the small group of boys approached him.

            "Akazawa-senpai!" exclaimed another boy with mortification on his face. "That's not a girl! That's a _boy_!"

            Akazawa Yoshirou peered closely at Atsushi behind the fence for a moment before nodding in confirmation. "Oh, I guess you're right, Kaneda. His hair kind of threw me off, I guess."

            Feeling the side of his mouth twitching slightly, Atsushi took a step back from his observers. It was already odd of him to be at this place at all, but it was getting stranger to see the two boys have such a casual conversation about him… while he was standing right in front of them.

            "What's going on over here?"

            The Rokkaku player shifted his eyes to see a dainty boy with wavy black hair wearing a white shirt and black pants of his school uniform joining them. His eyes darted between the three boys, unsure of what to say to them.

            "Who's this?" the new arrival asked Akazawa with a slight grin as he eyed Atsushi carefully. "Rokkaku Chuu, eh? Are you a spy?"

           Eyes widening slightly, Atsushi instantly took a step back and bowed his head slightly. "I'm sorry, I'm not a spy. I was just…um…I'm kind of lost…"

            "It's a long way from Chiba to be 'lost' here in Tokyo, Rokkaku-san," the third boy replied, his amused grin still plastered on his face. "What brings you here…?"

            "Kisarazu," Atsushi supplied quietly, lifting his face to look the boy in the eye. "Kisarazu Atsushi."

            "Interesting," the boy muttered, holding a hand up to his chin. Smiling strangely at Atsushi, the boy walked around Akazawa and Kaneda to pull open the door of the chain linked fence. "You play tennis, don't you, Kisarazu-kun?"

            "Mizuki…" Akazawa began slowly, shooting his teammate a look.

            Ignoring him, Mizuki continued to smile at the boy behind the fence as he held the door open for him. "I'm Mizuki Hajime of St. Rudolf. I see you have your rackets," Mizuki noted, still smiling mysteriously. "Care for a match with a few of our boys?"

            Atsushi glanced nervously at each of the three boys before slowly and reluctantly stepping in to the courts with a quick nod. His love for tennis will was demanding for him to play. Tennis would be a good escape from the problems with his brother as well, he thought. As Mizuki called over a few more boys from the benches, Atsushi took a deep breath. At this moment, tennis was the only thing that mattered.

            "Game set Kisarazu! Six games to three!"

            "He's pretty impressive," Akazawa commented to Mizuki off the courts as the Rokkaku player shook hands with the smiling Kaneda. "It was fine when he beat Nomura 6-1, but I didn't expect Kaneda to be defeated so easily."

            "Kaneda was made for doubles," Mizuki muttered, a smirk appearing when Yanagisawa jumped up to pat the long haired boy's back with a huge smile. "With the way Kisarazu has been playing," Mizuki commented, twirling a lock of his hair, "It's most likely he'll match quite well against Yanagisawa. Their playing styles are compatible."

            "What kind of ideas are you getting now?" Akazawa questioned with a raised eyebrow as Atsushi engaged in a new match with Yanagisawa.

            "I think I may have found a new recruit for our team," Mizuki said with a smile spreading across his face as he headed towards the courts.

            "Game Kisarazu! One game to love! Change court!"

            Atsushi could feel his heart pounding in excitement as he changed sides of the court. He smiled slightly when Yanagisawa pounded on his back again with a laugh. It felt good to play with different people. The longer he played, the more his problems began to fade into the back of his head.

            "You sure are cute, da ne," Yanagisawa was saying with a grin. "I mean, even if you are a boy! Plus you're great at tennis da ne. Want to marry me?"

            "I believe I've seen enough," Mizuki said with a wide smile as he approached the two boys, interrupting Yanagisawa in the process. He clapped lightly for two as he stalked up to Atsushi. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a word with you. Privately, of course."

            Glancing at the other boys gathered in the area, Atsushi twisted the towel in his hand lightly. Each of them smiled encouragingly back at him with thumbs in the air, so Atsushi nodded slightly at Mizuki and followed him into a corner.

            "I'd like to say," Mizuki began with a grin once they were out of earshot, "that you must be having some trouble back in Chiba at school, am I right? There's not really any other explanation of having you run all the way to Tokyo on a school day."

            Staring down at his hands, Atsushi felt all his problems flooding back at once. Tennis had been able to take his mind off of it for a while, but when it all came back, it more than ever. "Yes," he responded quietly, clenching his fist slightly. "I kind of…had a fight with my twin brother."

            "Another brother situation, is it?" Mizuki asked with amusement. He glanced over his shoulder to smirk at Fuji Yuuta sitting at the bench, quietly sipping from a bottle of water. "You know," the curly haired boy went on, "when you have those kind of fights with a sibling, it's best to put some space between yourselves for a while."

            "A-Ah," Atsushi stuttered slightly, twisting his fingers together. His cheeks felt slightly flushed, surprised at the way Mizuki was saying things so casually. It was really as if he understood. "I…think my brother wants that…"

            "But is that what _you_ want?" the slightly older boy asked with a smile. Tossing his bangs out of his eyes, Mizuki reached out and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I've been watching you play tennis, and I think you have great potential. I'd like to invite you to join our school and our tennis team. We could use someone like you."

            "W…what?" Atsushi asked in surprise, quickly bringing his head up to stare at the boy. "You…want me to transfer to your school? I mean…in Tokyo? There's no way I could. It's too far for me to come here every morning!"

            "St. Rudolf is boarding school," Mizuki explained, addressing the long haired boy's concern. "It's a very small school, but has good opportunities. There are advantages to going to a small school, you know. Like more attention, for example."

            "I…I don't really need more attention," the other boy mumbled in response, touching his elbow as his eyes shifted to the side. "This…this is really sudden for me, Mizuki-san. I don't know if I can…"

            "What's with this 'san' addressing for?" Mizuki said with a carefree tone, smiling mysteriously at Atsushi. "Just Mizuki is fine. I won't force you to attend, but I really think it would benefit you. If you don't agree," Mizuki began, eyes trailing to where Yuuta was sitting again, "I've also recently recruited someone with the same problem as you. Brotherly problems."

            Atsushi stiffly followed Mizuki's gaze until it rested on Yuuta, who had just stood up to rally with Yanagisawa. The moment he laid his eyes on the younger boy, Atsushi felt some kind of compassion towards him. He wasn't the only one with problems with his family. There was someone else just like him.

            "You two should talk sometime," Mizuki said casually, raising an eyebrow as he watched Atsushi silently watch Yuuta with visible compassion on his face. "Yuuta-kun just recently transferred to St. Rudolf. I think he's doing quite well here."

            Holding out a small, folded piece of spotless paper, Mizuki smiled at the boy, saying quietly, "Here's the phone number you can reach me at if you decide on anything. You would be a great addition to our school, Kisarazu Atsushi-kun. Don't forget, St. Rudolf welcomes you at all times."

            "Ah…thank you," Atsushi said quietly as he took the slip of paper. He looked up at Mizuki who simply smiled and walked towards his team. Closing his eyes, Atsushi sighed and clutched the paper. Maybe he was destined to come here after all.

            "Time to get back to school, boys," Mizuki's voice clearly rang out through the small group. "Lunch is almost over. You coming, Yuuta-kun?"

            "I think I'd like to stay for a little while longer," Yuuta said quietly, bending over to pick up a tennis ball. He blinked at the older boy. "That is, Mizuki-san…if you don't mind, I mean."

            "Doesn't matter to me," Mizuki said, waving his hand as he headed towards the gate with the other boys. "I'll inform your teacher you'll be coming late to class."

            "Thanks," Yuuta said gratefully with a small smile as he bounced the ball.

            "See you around da ne, Kawaii-kun!" Yanagisawa called out cheerfully to Atsushi, waving at him before leaving the courts with the rest of his team.

            Blushing slightly, Atsushi returned to his racket bag, where Yuuta was standing, bouncing the tennis ball. Silently, he tucked the slip of paper with Mizuki's number into a side pocket of his bag.

            "Mizuki-san told me you were having problems with your brother," Yuuta commented quietly, still bouncing the ball on the ground with his racket. "I think I at least kind of understand what it's like. I have an older brother too. He's a regular at Seishun Gakuen."

            "Is that so?" Atsushi asked quietly, sitting down on a bench, adjusting the strings on his racket. "Is that the school you were at before you transferred to St. Rudolf?"

            "Only for a little while," Yuuta replied simply, catching the ball and sitting down next to Atsushi. Smiling slightly at the older boy, Yuuta commented, "I'm still only a first year after all."

            "Really? I wouldn't have guessed," Atsushi replied with a tiny smile. Lowering his racket, he looked at Yuuta with a kind of sympathetic expression. "It's hard, don't you think? Having a fight with your brother that is…"

            "I guess," Yuuta said with noticeable guilt on his face. "I guess the problem with my brother is mostly my fault. He's always been really good to me and he's a really great tennis player, but I just got tired of standing in his shadow all the time. I feel like no one knows me as me anymore. I'm just 'tensai Fuji Syusuke's little brother.'"

            "That's a little like what happened to me, I guess," Atsushi said, leaning back on the fence to stare up at the sky. "My brother…well, my twin actually. He was saying I shouldn't follow him around all the time. He doesn't want me to be in his shadow, so he told me to grow up. His words were a little harsh, but I think his feelings behind them hurt more."

            "Your own twin brother?" Yuuta asked with surprise and interest. "Wow… I don't know if I can compare with that."

            "Isn't it better not to?" the long haired boy commented quietly. "It's not a good feeling to disliked by your brother. I think it's my fault for doing something wrong to him, but for a while now, it's felt like he's built an ice barrier up around his emotions. Like…he wants to keep me out…"

            "Ah…" Yuuta said slowly, concentration building on his face. "But you know… Ice is something that can be melted. It's one of those rare things that can be solid and liquid with time. Water freezes into ice with time, but ice also melts back into water with time. It's a constantly changing situation with ice. An ice barrier…it can be melted with time." The younger boy suddenly blinked and laughed at his own words, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, that's just my philosophy anyway."

            "These kinds of things," Yuuta slowly began again, glancing at the dark haired boy listening intently to him, "will eventually resolve themselves. I mean, even though my relationship with my brother is kind of bad… I know he still loves me regardless, and I…still love him too, I guess. He'll always be my brother, and that's what makes him irreplaceable."

            The words sank in slowly, but soon were etched into Atsushi's mind. Smiling up at the younger boy, Atsushi put his racket back into his bag and said with a gentle laugh, "You're really smart, Fuji."

            "Just call me Yuuta," the boy said quickly, flushing slightly. "Please. My brother is still my brother, but too much reference to him isn't exactly great."

            "Yuuta then…" Atsushi said, standing up. He smiled as he shook hands with the boy. "It was good talking to you. I've realized a lot of things in just a little while. If you don't mind…" the dark haired boy closed his eyes, smile still on his face, "please tell Mizuki for me… I'd like to have transfer papers when I come by this weekend."

            "Sure," Yuuta said brightly with a grin. "Welcome to St. Rudolf."

            It wasn't a perfect new beginning, and it may have been just another escape route, but at that time, Atsushi already knew that everything happened for a reason. Fighting with his brother, running to Tokyo, meeting these people… It wasn't an accident; destiny probably had it all planned out.

            "Transferring?! To Tokyo?!" Kurobane exclaimed, falling back onto a bench with an exasperated sigh. "There goes another loss to our tennis team."

            Atsushi smiled sheepishly at his teammates. It was the day after the St. Rudolf encounter, and he was telling his teammates his decision. His eyes only wandered in the direction of his twin, who stood in silent shock, pulling his hat down slightly and quickly walking out of the clubroom with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

            "It's your choice," Shudou sighed. Smiling supportively, he pat the shorter boy's head. "Do what's best for you. We'll miss you though."

            The younger twin smiled gratefully as his teammates slowly filed out of the clubroom towards the courts. He knew they would understand. It was his twin he was unsure about.

            "So you're really leaving, huh?" Saeki asked with a soft sigh, standing up to face the long haired boy. He smiled gently. "Kind of makes me wish I had stopped you yesterday from running out."

            "I think…it was bound to happen," Atsushi said quietly, staring at his feet. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to look up into the boy's eyes. "After all that happened yesterday, there's no way it could have been an accident."

            "I understand that," the light haired boy said, running a hand through his short hair. Crossing his arms, he leaned back against the wall. "I understand it; I'm just trying to accept it. Even though it already happened, I can't help but think what would have happened if I had stopped you."

            "It's not your fault," Atsushi said quietly, leaning against the wall next to Saeki. "It was my own decision."

            "You're right," Saeki said with a defeated smile. His features softened as he turned towards the other boy, bringing their faces closer until their noses almost touched. He noted Atsushi's blush with a happy, amused kind of grin. Quickly, he brought his hand up to tweak the boy's nose, making him squeeze one eye shut in surprise. Straightening himself up, Saeki picked up his tennis racket and said cheerfully, "Look out for yourself in Tokyo, Kisarazu ototou. I'll miss seeing your face."

            "Then just look at aniki's," Atsushi replied, rubbing his nose, one eye still shut. "We have the same face anyway."

            "Nah, it's not quite the same," the light haired boy replied with a carefree smile and a wink. "Your face is much cuter than his when you're blushing."

            Atsushi instantly felt his face heat up further, eyes widening slightly. He was just about to retort when Kurobane and a redhead first year stuck their heads in.

            "You never told us which school you were transferring to," Kurobane said, kicking the redhead next to him to get him to stop snickering.

            "Oh," the long haired twin muttered, feeling the temperature on his face drop slowly. "St. Rudolf."

            "Really?" Saeki asked with surprise, turning around face the other boy. "I have a friend that just transferred there too. He's on the tennis team, a first year. Fuji Yuuta. Did you meet him?"

            It only took a minute before Atsushi found himself laughing uncharacteristically. Nothing really happened by accident after all.

            "There will be a few changes to the way you've been used to at Rokkaku," Mizuki was explaining as Atsushi followed him through the school towards the tennis courts. "I don't think there's anything too big, though."

            Stopping in front of the St. Rudolf boys' tennis clubroom, Mizuki smiled at the long haired boy and held out a pair of scissors. "Welcome to St. Rudolf, Kisarazu-kun. It's time to leave the past, and I'm sure you'll find new opportunities and challenges here."

            Atsushi looked at the scissors with the sunlight bouncing off of them. Behind Mizuki, the boys he had met the other day all stood in the doorway of the clubroom with supportive smiles, the fading sunlight silhouetting their figures. Slowly, the long haired boy reached out and took the scissors with a small smile. Remembering Yuuta's words, he carefully said, "Just Atsushi is fine. Just Atsushi."

            He had never minded being called "Kisarazu ototou" by Saeki and his other teammates, Atsushi thought to himself as he carefully cut his hair with the scissors Mizuki had given him, Yuuta and Yanagisawa behind him. Atsushi knew he had to eventually grow apart from his brother, and switching schools would only be the beginning. They might face each other on the courts someday with new determinations, despite which team they were on.

            Placing the scissors down gently, Atsushi opened his tennis bag, where he noticed a long strip of red cloth. Slowly, he picked it up and noted the small, jagged tears at the ends of the Rokkaku-red band. He instantly realized who had left it in his bag. Quietly, he snipped the torn edges off with the scissors and tied the red strip onto his forehead. He smiled softly into the mirror as it reflected the person he was speaking to.

            _I'm sorry, Atsushi. I never wanted you to go away…_

            "Thanks, but it's ok, aniki," the younger twin said quietly into the mirror with a slight smile. "Don't worry, I'm not going to forget you any time soon. We're just growing up a little now."

            It would still be a while, but the ice was already beginning to melt.

            Owari.

---

**A/N:** x_X; ack. This was just bugging me to get out. *twitch* I always did wonder why twins went to separate schools.

This one's a bit longer then the previous chapter/fic. _o; I actually finished it a while ago, but I was *TRYING* to get "Deep Snow" done so I could freely work on this, but I've been having some writer's block on that fic. *sulk*

Thanks for the reviews. ^^; I really wasn't expecting many (they _are_ those poor neglected characters after all xD) but that's alright. I'm just having fun writing about them o.o;

As for the line-up… There's Yanagisawa Shinya, Kajimoto Takahisa (I think that's his name x_@) and the ones Shinigami Girl mentioned. *yuku being lazy* I have ideas running rampart in my head, I just have to tie them down x_X;;;;

As for "Deep Snow" … it's my top priority for now u_u;;; I SHALL DEFEAT WRITER'S BLOCK! PUAHAHAHAHA. o.o;

*cough* thanks for reading and review if possible x)


	3. Blue Pools of Happiness: Fuji Yuuta

**Disclaimer:** yes, I own them in my dreams. *nod nod*

**Characters Featured:** Fuji brothers, Fuji Yuuta centric

**Pairing:** mentioned Tezuka + Fuji (Syusuke)

**Quick Note:** the Fuji brothers are referred to by their first names in this fic, because it would be too weird to say: "…and then Fuji went up to Fuji and said…" ^^;

            Silver Snowflakes

                        - Blue Pools of Happiness -

            "Will you be coming home tonight?"

            Fuji Yuuta used to hate phone calls from his brother. It was never because he hated his aniki or because Fuji Syusuke was always teasing him, but because it was a guilty reminder that no matter how much Yuuta insisted to tear them apart, his older brother was always smiling back at him with the same kind of love as always. The only thing Yuuta never could figure out, was the reason why his brother could still care about him so much even when he clearly announced to the world that he did _not_ want to be known as Fuji Syusuke's little brother.

            "Maybe," Yuuta said vaguely on the phone, his eyes wandering around the empty dorm room. He would never admit it, but sometimes he wished his aniki would call him sometimes just so he could listen to his gentle voice and soft laughter.

            "Nee-san and kaa-san really want to see you," Syusuke said. Yuuta could just feel the warmth of his brother's smile radiating through the phone. "I would too. Tomorrow is an important day. We only hope we're important enough for you to spend it with us."

            "Don't say such weird things, aniki," Yuuta replied with a slight frown. "You're my _family_. You're making it out  to be like I hate you all or something."

            "Does this mean you'll be coming home tomorrow?" the blue eyed boy on the other end asked. Yuuta was sure that if he was looking his brother in the face, those blue eyes would surely be open with an amused glint.

            Rolling over on his bed, Yuuta stared at the wall for a moment before closing his eyes. "I don't know," he said with a sigh. "It's a school night, aniki. I might not be able to make it back for school the next day."

            "I understand for that reason," the soft voice replied slowly, "but Yuuta… It really has been a long time since I last saw you." There was a faint chuckle. "Don't you miss your aniki at all?"

            "W-Well, I…" the younger brother sat up on his bed and scratched his slightly flushed cheek. Squeezing his eyes shut to mask his embarrassment in his voice, he stated solidly, "Maybe I'll come home for the weekend. I know I haven't been coming home as often as usual, but everything at school has really been crazy. Not a lot of people have been able to go home themselves. We're all really busy."

            "I already said I understood," Syusuke said calmly, "you don't need to make excuses for me. I know you're busy, but we all are at home too. All I really want is to see you tomorrow. I'll find a way to for sure."

            "Aniki…" Yuuta started warningly, "don't start getting too many ideas in your head. Otherwise I'll be afraid to wake up tomorrow morning."

            "We can't have that now," Syusuke said with a laugh. "Rest assured. I won't plan anything extravagant, but I promise I'll be seeing you tomorrow. Don't worry about anything; I'll take care of things. Oyasumi, Yuuta."

            "Good night, aniki," Yuuta mumbled in return as his brother cheerfully hung up the phone. Putting the phone on his nightstand, he lay back down and rolled over to stare up at the ceiling again. He had learned by now that when his brother said not to worry, that was when he should start worrying. Yuuta knew better than anyone else just how sneaky his older brother was. 

            Sighing, Yuuta closed his eyes for a moment in thought. The next day was an important day for him as his brother had said. It was the eighteenth of February, his birthday. He had never thought it was a big deal to emphasize that he was getting another year older, but it somehow felt a little good to be the same age as his brother, even if it was only for a week or so.

            Any normal person looking at their relationship would instantly declare that they were on bad terms. Yuuta, however, would instantly disagree in response. It did seem as if their relationship was a bit drifty, but Yuuta was happy with simple things.

            When it came to his ever-smiling brother, Yuuta always had the most secrets to hide. He would never admit to anyone that deep down, he would always love his brother. His aniki was his first and oldest best friend, the person that protected him from bullies and kids that picked on him, the person who let Yuuta crawl into his bed at night when the thunder outside was too frightening, and the person who always believed in him, loving him unconditionally.

            There were times when even his parents and sister doubted him, Yuuta remembered, but for some reason it was always his brother that was immediately on his side for everything. It was always Syusuke who argued against his parents for Yuuta's good, never caring about how deep his own punishment could be.

            There was no one else in the world that loved him as much as his brother. Yuuta already knew that. It was plainly visible each time Syusuke's bright blue eyes opened to smile at him with a twinkle.

_That's why I had to become stronger,_ he thought as he closed his eyes. _I can't let aniki protect me forever. I need to become stronger so I can protect him for once. I  have to become stronger than him… Maybe then aniki will let me stand in front of him for once. It's not because I hate him, but because I care for him just as much as he cares for me…_

            "Yuuta-kun," a voice said from behind the door, a soft knock on his door. "Are you in there?"

            Snapping out of his thoughts, Yuuta flushed slightly, embarrassed to be caught while in such deep thought. Sitting up, he called out in a slightly cracked voice, "M-Mizuki-san? C-Come in…"

            The dark haired third year stepped into the younger boy's room with his usual smirk. Closing the door behind him, Mizuki walked up to Yuuta's bed and sat on the edge. "So who were you talking on the phone with for so long? I came by half an hour ago when the phone first rang."

            "Oh, um…sorry, Mizuki-san," Yuuta quickly apologized, scratching his head. "My brother called to check up on me."

            "Seigaku's Fuji Syusuke-kun?" Mizuki asked with mild interest, turning to look at the younger boy. His smirk widened. "And how is your brother, Yuuta-kun?"

            "Fine, I guess," the younger boy answered awkwardly. Ever since Mizuki lost to his brother, Yuuta began to notice a strong hatred between the two. It wasn't exactly hard to notice. If Fuji Syusuke did not like someone, they would know.

            "Anyway," the dark haired boy said, changing the topic. "Tomorrow is your birthday, isn't it? Do you have any particular way you'd like to celebrate? Yanagisawa has been nagging about throwing you a birthday party."

            Yuuta let a fait smile escape his lips. "You don't really have to do anything for me. I kind of like just being here. It's quiet…and gives me some time to think." Sighing, the brown haired boy crawled to the edge of the bed to sit next to his senpai. "Thanks for thinking of me though."

            "You don't need to be so polite all the time," Mizuki said, rolling his eyes slightly. He patted Yuuta's head before standing up. "It's dinnertime, let's go eat. Besides, it's not good for you to sit in here all by yourself."

            "Right," Yuuta said, breaking out in a smile as he jumped to his feet. As he followed Mizuki out, he realized he understood why Mizuki and his brother didn't get along.

            _Aniki loves me because we're brothers_, Yuuta thought, closing the door as he left his dorm room. _He'd never forgive anyone that would ever try to hurt me. Mizuki-san doesn't really love me like aniki does. Mizuki-san loves his will to be strong, even if it means hurting a few people in the process. Aniki would never do that, so he hates Mizuki-san because Mizuki-san would hurt me to become stronger._

            _Then again…_ Mizuki turned to smile at Yuuta before walking into the cafeteria. The younger boy smiled back weakly as he followed his senpai in. _Mizuki-san doesn't hate me either…and that only makes aniki even more angry._

            "Yuuta!"

            Grinning slightly, Yuuta walked towards the table where his teammates were sitting at, calling him. Yanagisawa had jumped up to wave him over enthusiastically while having his other arm flung sloppily over a sheepishly smiling Kisarazu's shoulder. Somehow, Yuuta had grown to like it at St. Rudolf. He had made good friends and a second home. It was also because of his school that he was able to be on good terms with his brother again.

-

            "Ah! I'm so glad classes are over for today da ne!"

            "Now you get to look forward to tomorrow's classes."

            "…I get the feeling you don't like me very much, Kisarazu da ne…"

            Smiling slightly, Yuuta walked down the hall with his two senpai towards his dorm. Yanagisawa always had something to say when there was a chance to speak, the second year noticed.

            "I have to," Kisarazu responded with a serious expression. "If I don't like you, who else does?"

            "Hey!"

            That, and that Kisarazu always had something smart to say back. Yuuta laughed, pulling his door open. The moment the door was open, he felt his hand slip off in shock. His eyes blinked a few times before widening in surprise.

            "Hey," Yanagisawa piped up, raising a finger to point into Yuuta's room over his shoulder. "Isn't that your brother, da ne? Tensai Fuji Syusuke from Seigaku da ne…"

            "Surprise, Yuuta," Syusuke said with a cheerful smile, waving at them from where he sat at the corner of Yuuta's bed. His blue eyes opened to twinkle at his younger brother. "I said I would see you today no matter what, didn't I? Happy Birthday."

            "Aniki, you…" Yuuta began before bringing a hand to his head and sighing. He walked into the dorm and dropped his bag on the ground. He covered his face to hide the tiny smile that was forming at his lips. "You actually came all the way here? Don't you have tennis practice?"

            "It took some work, but I managed to get Tezuka to let me skip practice today to come see you," the older brother said brightly. His eyes sparkled with happiness as he spoke. Chuckling softly, he added, "I'm afraid I may be running laps tomorrow though."

            "I think now's a good time for us to go now," Kisarazu said quietly to Yanagisawa. He bowed his head slightly to the smiling blue eyed boy and grabbed hold of his friend's arm. Politely, he said to the other boy, "Nice seeing you again. Shitsurei shimasu."

            Syusuke nodded back in return before redirecting his smile back to his younger brother. "What polite friends you have," he said with an amused smile. "It's nice to know you're in good hands here. With no, ah, _bad influences_."

            Yuuta didn't even bother to wince. He already knew who the implied "bad influence" was. "Aniki," he began, taking a seat next to his brother on the bed. "I'm glad to see you and all, but wasn't it a lot of trouble to come here? You really didn't have to come."

            "But I wanted to spend my favorite day of the year with my favorite person," the older boy said with a gentle smile. Turning to face his brother, Syusuke's blue eyes opened, his fake smile warming into a true smile. "It doesn't matter what it took to come see you, Yuuta.  I came because it makes me happy to see you."

            "I know," Yuuta mumbled, staring down at his hands. "I'm sorry I haven't been coming home lately, aniki. I…I promise I'll come home for your birthday next weekend though. Since you had t come all the way here…"

            "I'm sorry, I didn't bring a present for you," Syusuke said apologetically, his eyes closing again. Lifting his arms, he stretched them out. "Partly because I didn't have enough time to and partly because I wasn't quite sure what to get you. You never did tell me what you'd like for your birthday, Yuuta."

            "Aniki, I don't want a gift," Yuuta responded, eyes still locked on the delicate boy beside him. His serious gaze was returned with a sweet smile. At times, Yuuta thought his brother looked somewhat like a girl. Delicate-looking, sweet, and refined features shaped his brother's entire body, yet somehow still possessed power. Yuuta admired his brother. "You coming all the way here to see me is already enough."

            "Not for me it isn't," the smiling boy said cheerfully. "I know," he said suddenly, lifting his hand to tap his cheek. "Let's play a game. A question game so we can catch up a little. Ask me any question you want."

            "Any?" Yuuta asked, raising an eyebrow. There were so many things he could choose from. He could ask why his brother would never play tennis seriously against him or even why he was always smiling. That didn't seem important to him now though. "Alright then… Aniki…would you still love me even if hated you? Would you still be able to care for me if I wished to never see you again, to never have to hear your voice again? Would you still keep smiling at me?"

            "That's very easy," Syusuke said quietly, his face relaxing with a tiny smile. Slowly, he lifted his hands in front of Yuuta's face, another smile in place. "Yuuta, you're my brother. You're a part of me; a very important piece, like my hands when I play tennis."

            "Sometimes my fingers are a little too loose on the grip during a match," the blue eyed boy explained carefully, pulling his hands back, holding them close to his chest. "When that happens, my hands slip a little, but I know I can never let go of the racket. Even at the times when my fingers began to ache, I could only grip the handle tighter and never let go."

            Yuuta watched in thoughtful silence as the older boy smiled at his hands, intertwining his long fingers together. Yuuta wondered if his question had hurt him. His brother had such a painful smile on, but a peaceful expression at the same time.

            "No matter what happens, I would never let go of you," Syusuke looked up at his younger brother with a smile. "We're brothers forever, no matter what our feelings are like. Even if you hated me with every fiber of your being, that still wouldn't change the fact that our blood is tied together. Nor would it change that fact that you are my little brother and I do care about you."

            "Another question then," Yuuta said quietly, staring down at the floor. He could tell by the tone of his brother's voice that he was ready to tell Yuuta anything he asked. "Who is your most important person?"

            "You, of course," Syusuke replied with a soft laugh. "That was an even simpler question than the previous. You may be wasting your questions."

            "I meant other than me, aniki," Yuuta said seriously, his expression unchanging as he lifted his eyes from the floor to his brother's face. "Not me, not nee-san, or our parents. Aniki, there's someone you love, isn't there?"

            "Maybe," the blue eyed boy said, his smile melting slightly. His blue eyes opened to happily stare at a wall. It was almost as if he were imagining that person's face looking back at him from the wall, Yuuta thought. Tearing his gaze away from the empty white, Syusuke cocked his head slightly to smile at his brother. "What makes you ask this? Do you have any guesses?"

            "Is it…" Yuuta closed his eyes and sighed slowly. "Aniki…it's…Tezuka-san, isn't it? The person you care for most. Aniki's most important person is Tezuka-san…isn't it?"

            Blue eyes blinked once in surprise before hiding behind his smiling mask again. The answer had clearly startled him. Softly, he asked, "Of all people, why did you pick Tezuka?"

            Yuuta nodded slowly and brought his eyes up to look directly at his brother's face. He spoke evenly, "Even though you only mention him a few times, whenever you speak his name, your smile changes and your eyes show that you're really happy. It's not the same with me, aniki. Both of us, we've grown up and I'm no longer the person you care most about. Even though I know you love me, Tezuka-san is still aniki's most important person."

           "All this time, I didn't always insist you didn't care about me because I was ashamed," Yuuta said, closing his eyes. He thought he would never have to admit this… "It was mostly because I wanted you to realize there would be one day when you'll care so much about someone that all other things will fade away. I already knew I wasn't that person. I only wanted you to find him, the person you'll care about more than me."

            "Yuuta…" By then, Syusuke's blue eyes were open, brows furrowed. Slowly a smile broke out on his face. He leaned to the side until his shoulder touched Yuuta's. "You've made me very happy, Yuuta. Ah…see, I knew you had a brother complex too."

            "Aniki!" Yuuta exclaimed, flushing against his will. Yet, he didn't bother to pull always from their touching shoulders. "You're definitely the one with a brother complex!"

            "Ok, ok," Syusuke laughed. Tilting his head back, he smiled at the roof, silently thanking Tezuka once again for letting him come.

            Glancing at his brother's rather unfocused smile, Yuuta smirked. "I can tell you're thinking about him again," he told the older boy. "Your smile changed again. Don't think I haven't learned how to tell the difference by now."

            "I was only thanking him for letting me visit you," the blue eyed boy said innocently with an equally innocent smile. Yuuta thought that at one point he saw white wings, but that was part of the tempting illusion of being innocent his brother had become an expert at pulling off.

            "Whatever," Yuuta said with a sigh. Slowly, he leaned over until his head rested on his brother's shoulders. He felt the shoulders tense for a moment before relaxing. Closing his eyes, Yuuta mumbled, "I can't grow up too fast though. The faster I grow up, the faster I lose you to Tezuka-san. Though…that may somehow be a good thing. Now you can torture _him_…"

            "We sure have been talking about Tezuka a lot," Syusuke commented, smiling at the top of Yuuta's head. "I wonder if he's at home sneezing."

            "Maybe," Yuuta breathed. "Aniki…" he said again suddenly, opening his eyes but not moving from his position. "What are the things that make you happy?"

            "The things that make me happy?" Syusuke chuckled lightly. "Let's see then. Playing tennis, being with friends, taking pictures, staying at home, ah… seeing my teammates 'suffering,' teasing Yuuta…"

            "Thinking about Tezuka-san," the younger boy added with a smirk. Now he understood why his aniki liked to tease him so much. Teasing was fun! "Aniki, when I come home for your birthday next week… I want to meet him."

            "We'll see," Syusuke replied simply, a smile hanging on his lips. "I've answered three of your questions now. It's my turn to ask three questions now."

            "Go ahead," the younger boy said, head still not moving from Syusuke's shoulder. "I'll answer whatever you ask too."

            "Alright," Syusuke said cheerfully, "One: what is Yuuta's favorite color?"

            "…"

            Yuuta blinked. After the questions he had just asked, he was expecting something a little more serious. Instead, favorite colors. "Aniki, you've known my favorite colors since I was four years old."

            "Maybe they've changed," the smiling boy said. "It's been a long time since you were four years old anyway. Well? Go ahead and tell me."

            "Um…silver and blue," the younger boy said slowly, sweatdropping. "Is the next question what my favorite food is?"

            "Sorry Yuuta, you're done asking questions," Syusuke said sweetly. "Now, second question: Yuuta…who is your most important person. You say mine is Tezuka, then who is yours?"

            "I never really put much thought to that," Yuuta answered truthfully. "I don't think there's anyone I really _like_ right now. You're lucky, aniki. For now, it's still you."

            Syusuke's lips curved into a pleased smile. "I'm glad, Yuuta. For my last question…Yuuta, do you love your aniki?"

            The younger boy remained silent for a moment, but his lips slowly quirked upwards in the corners. Reaching up, he pulled his brother's head down to rest on top of his. Laughing, he responded, "Of course. Aniki is aniki, my only brother." Remembering Kisarazu's joke earlier, Yuuta added with a grin, "If I don't love you, who else does?"

            "Then I'm happy," Syusuke said, closing his eyes contently. His warm smile lingered on his lips. "This game is fun. We should play again sometime."

            "Aniki," Yuuta called out, closing his eyes. "The things that make me happy… Playing tennis, being with friends, seeing everyone at home…and talking to you like this now. When we talk like this, I don't have to worry about whether or not you're being serious or not because I can see aniki's sparkling blue eyes. I guess you can say…happiness for me is aniki's blue eyes."

            "My happiness is Yuuta's smile," Syusuke said in return with a soft smile of his own. "Happy Birthday, Yuuta."

-

            "Are you sure it's a good idea for us to walk in on them?"

            "Aw, why not da ne?" Yanagisawa said cheerfully, standing outside of Yuuta's dorm with Kisarazu at his side. "It's Yuuta's birthday da ne! He needs a proper party!"

            "Ok then," Kisarazu said doubtfully as Yanagisawa pulled the door open. Getting a glimpse inside, the boy grinned and slapped a hand over Yanagasawa's mouth before he could say anything. "Shh… Looks like there's not going to be a party tonight, Yanagisawa. I get the feeling our kohai is a little tired tonight."

            Confused, Yanagisawa peered through the crack of the opened door with Kisarazu's hand still over his mouth. Slowly, he grinned. Quietly closing the door again, he poked his doubles partner's side to get him to take his hand off. Snickering, Yanagisawa slung his arm over his friend again and commented, "That peaceful little scene makes you feel all mushy inside da ne. Party tomorrow night then!"

            Inside Yuuta's dorm, the Fuji brothers were fast asleep on the bed beside each other with smiles on their lips.

            Happiness is a deep pool of endless blue. Why? Because that is the color of happiness' eyes.

            Owari.

-----

**A/N: **Yaaaay~! I'm not late by a whole forty-five minutes! ^^;;; **_Happy Birthday, _****_Fuji_****_ Yuuta-kun!_** *glomp attack*

n_n; because I couldn't really think of anyone to pair him up with, he's with his brother in this fic. Ah…well, I think it turned out rather well, because I do like this fic somewhat xD Yes, very lame ending indeed though.

Erk. The other short stories for this fic-like-thingy are still in process! U_u; I've just been being kind of lazy lately… *cough*

Well, I hope you've enjoyed reading this. Please review! ^^;;;


	4. Melting Snow: Yanagisawa Shinya, Kisaraz...

**Disclaimer:** "…and now we see a fan fiction writer who has been tied up and gagged by lawyers. This is the result of trying to claim ownership of the Tenipuri characters. :D"

**Characters Featured:** Yanagisawa Shinya and Kisarazu Atsushi

Silver Snowflakes

- Melting Snow -

by: yukuro

Yanagisawa Shinya was a troublemaker. He was always doing or saying things that would get him into trouble, as his friend, Kisarazu Atsushi noticed easily. This was probably the reason Kisarazu wasn't surprised when his friend had "accidentally" knocked over a small jar of colored ink out of the window from the infirmary and had it spilled all over a furious Mizuki's head. That was just the way Yanagisawa was.

"You're going to get in trouble for that," Kisarazu said simply as his friend sat back down with a mischievous, yet satisfied, grin. "Mizuki was never one to appreciate your jokes."

"I know that, da ne," Yanagisawa said cheerfully. "I couldn't resist though da ne. It was too tempting."

"Everything's tempting to you," Kisarazu muttered with a roll of his eyes. Hand holding up bandages and medicine, he commented, "You know, you don't look very injured to me. Maybe you should go back to practice. I'm sure Mizuki would love to see you right now."

Eye twitching, Yanagisawa instantly fell backwards onto the bed and dramatically threw an arm over his forehead. "You can't send an injured man back to the war, da ne! I'm in pain da ne! I swear!"

Smirking visibly, Kisarazu leaned over the other boy and carefully applied medicine. "This is some mess you've gotten yourself in."

Yanagisawa was a troublemaker. It was again not much of a surprise when he suddenly decided it was a good idea to run up to Akazawa while he was angry and make an unneeded comment. Kisarazu shook his head slightly but grinned at his friend. "You should know better than to annoy Akazawa when he's mad. But wait, let me guess. That was too tempting too."

"You're making fun of me, da ne," Yanagisawa sniffed as the other boy applied medicine to the cut on his face. "You're not cute anymore, Atsushi, da ne. I want a divorce da ne!"

"Very funny," the other boy muttered with a very small crooked grin, purposely adding a bit more medicine to the wound to make it sting. He was rewarded with a loud "Ite da ne!" from the injured boy. Teasing was fun, but maybe he should stop. Yanagisawa did look as if he were in some amount of pain.

Yanagisawa frowned deeply as his friend bandaged his face gently. First being hit by a racket and now that stinging medicine! The side of his face hadn't hurt so much since he was hit in the face by Momoshiro from Seigaku! "That was mean da ne. Is this because I said you weren't cute anymore da ne? Do you really love me that much da ne?"

Rolling his eyes, Kisarazu set down the medical supplies and smirked. "Don't dream too much," he commented dryly, shooting his friend a fond glance. Somehow, as strange as Yanagisawa could be at times, Kisarazu found that no one else made a better and more loyal friend. "Now stay still and rest, will you? Don't make me force you."

"Is that a bad thing da ne?" Yanagisawa asked with wide eyes. "Sounds interesting to me, da ne."

Raising an eyebrow, Kisarazu shot a sideways glance at the other boy. Flirting with his best friend, who also happened to be a _boy_…definitely a troublemaker with a touch of possible perverted-ness. Kisarazu rolled his eyes again and laughed silently to himself. "Yanagisawa, another word out of your mouth and I can guarantee you will be in much, much more pain than you are now or ever will be. You're definitely a troublemaker."

"Sometimes that's alright, da ne?" the other boy commented, putting his hands under his head. "Ah, St. Rudolf is so boring da ne! There are no cute girls here! Atsushi, you're the closest thing to a cute girl I've got, da ne…"

"…you must really want to die," Kisarazu laughed slightly, shaking his head. "I'll definitely hit you with a bat if you keep your mouth shut now. I'm definitely not a girl, and I am _not_ cute."

"At least you _were_ when I first met you with that long hair of yours da ne," Yanagisawa said cheerfully. "Too bad Mizuki made you cut it da ne."

"Too bad Mizuki didn't make you tape your mouth shut when you joined the team," the other boy stated simply in response, sitting down on a chair next to the bed.

"You're no fun at all da ne," Yanagisawa said with a sigh. "Fuji-ototou would appreciate my jokes."

"What makes you think that?" Kisarazu asked, raising his eyebrow. Crossing his legs and folding his arms, he leaned back in the chair with obvious amusement in his eyes. "You tease him just as much as you tease me. Maybe even more."

"I like that kid da ne," Yanagisawa said, grinning. "He's actually a really strong boy. Even though Yuuta came here to escape his problems, he still goes back to fix them. He's really not that bad off with his brother."

Kisarazu watched silently as a peaceful, somewhat nostalgic look crossed the other boy's face. "Yanagisawa," he began suddenly, trying to lighten the mood. "Do you remember when we first became partners?"

"How could I forget da ne?!" Yanagisawa exclaimed suddenly, snapping into the mood at once. He sat up and grinned cheekily at the other boy. "You were so cute then da ne! Even though we did fight a little…"

"A _little_?" Kisarazu asked incredulously. "We fought everyday and I thought you were the most ridiculously idiotic person there was!"

"Thanks a lot da ne," the other boy said dryly, feeling a vein on his forehead popping. "So maybe you weren't so cute after all."

"I'm a boy," Kisarazu said flatly, swiveling the chair over while crossing his arms, "I'm not cute. Never have been, never will be."

"Just wait until a girl tells you you're cute da ne," Yanagisawa shrugged. "Then you'll believe me."

"My old teammates used to call me and my brother that all the time," the other boy stated. "It gets annoying after a while."

"If you say so da ne!"

"Oh, just shut up already."

-- Ichi-nen Mae… (One year ago…) --

"I've recruited a new member for our team," Mizuki stated dully to the regulars that sat before him in the St. Rudolf boys' tennis clubroom. "He's from the Chiba prefecture."

"Kisarazu Atsushi desu. Yoroshiku."

"So he did end up recruiting the Kisarazu kid," Akazawa muttered quietly to the other members. "So why does Mizuki still look so pissed off?"

"I heard that this Kisarazu has an older twin and Mizuki wanted to recruit the older one," Nomura said musingly.

"So he's bitter," Akazawa said with a smirk. "That's pretty amusing. No wonder the kid looks different now. He's got short hair and a red headband."

"Heh! You're pretty cute for a boy da ne! So what was your name again da ne? Kanarazu da ne?" Yanagisawa asked cheerfully as Mizuki walked out of the clubroom, rubbing his temples.

"_Kisa_razu!" the new recruit said firmly, frowning at the boy addressing him by the _wrong_ name. "Stop calling me cute. It's weird."

"No it's not, Kanarazu-kun da ne," Yanagisawa chirped, lifting his racquet to rest on his shoulder. "It's a complement, da ne."

"My name is _Kisarazu_! Ki-sa-ra-zu! Not Kanarazu!" The newly recruited boy glared hard at the grinning St. Rudolf Regular. "Didn't you hear me?"

"Ah, but I like Kanarazu better da ne," the other boy went on, grinning at the ceiling. "Liiiiike…kanarazu katsu da ne! Heheh, but I guess I can't say anything until I see your tennis skill da ne."

"Jerk."

"Eh…Akazawa-san…do you think they're going to fight?" Kaneda asked with wide eyes as he watched Yanagisawa continue to provoke the new boy.

"Not sure," Akazawa commented, watching the two with amusement. "I saw Kisarazu in his class earlier and he's actually a really quiet kind of person. Yanagisawa must really annoy the hell out of him. Haha…"

"Um, I don't think that's a good thing," Nomura squeaked, his glasses sliding down his face. He lifted his finger to point at Mizuki who had just walked in and was tapping his foot impatiently.

"Kisarazu will be playing doubles with Yanagisawa from now on," Mizuki stated dryly, ignoring the way Kisarazu was twitching silently. "If you're all done dallying, practice needs to start now. St. Rudolf mustn't lose again."

"Hai," the team called out in dull unison. There was an especial lack of enthusiasm on Kisarazu's part as he chewed on his lower lip.

"Come on, Kanarazu-kun, da ne!" Yanagisawa exclaimed, roughly patting the boy's back, making him cough slightly. "Show me what kind of tennis you play!"

The rest of the team watched in awkward silence as Yanagisawa cheerfully blew out the door with Kisarazu charging after him with renewed determination.

"This'll be interesting, I daresay," Akazawa muttered with a smirk. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Mizuki? Kisarazu doesn't look too happy with your arrangement."

"He'll get over it," Mizuki muttered, obviously still annoyed at the fact that he had recruited the wrong twin. Not that he would dare let anyone think that his beautiful self could make such a horrible mistake. "You and Kaneda play against them for practice."

Mumbling something about doubles under his breath, Akazawa frowned and stomped out of the room with Kaneda at his heels. Nomura glanced awkwardly at Mizuki before turning and darting out of the room before Mizuki could say anything to him.

Sighing in frustration, Mizuki rubbed his temples again. His "perfect" team would need a lot of work. Emphasis on _a lot_.

Outside, the doubles players were calmly rallying for a warm-up. Kisarazu was quite talented, as the other boys noticed right away. Only Yanagisawa, however, complimented him openly and extremely loudly.

"Great shot, Kanarazu-kun, da ne!"

"My name is _Kisarazu_!"

"We're really not going to get anywhere if this goes on," Akazawa commented with a grin, resting his racquet on his shoulder. Locking over the net, he watched Yanagisawa run small circles around Kisarazu while waving his racquet. The boy with the red headband did not exactly look amused. "Hey, you two! Let's start the match already!"

"Which?" Kisarazu asked politely over the net, ignoring the way Yanagisawa was roughly slapping his back again.

"Rough," Akazawa replied with a smirk, doing his best not to laugh.

After the racquet was spun, the result came out smooth. Continuing to ignore Yanagisawa, Kisarazu went to the baseline and bounced the ball a few times. Just as he threw the ball up in the air, Yanagisawa decided it was a good time to exclaim, "I hope you can serve as well as you can get angry da ne!"

The first ball came back down and hit the top of Kisarazu's head as he glared at the boy at the net who cheerfully waved back to him. Furiously, he bounced the ball again and served it—

"Ite da ne!"

"F-Fault…"

—directly into the back of Yanagisawa's head. Without a word to the other boy, Kisarazu retrieved the ball and bounced it on the ground again. For the rest of the game, he purposely used his first serve to successfully nail Yanagisawa in the head before properly serving with his second serve. This method turned out making Kisarazu much happier, but that did not do well for their game.

"Game Akazawa-Kaneda pair. One game to love. Change court," Nomura said nervously, pulling at the collar of his shirt. Mizuki watched disapprovingly from the side.

"This is getting pathetic," Akazawa commented to Kaneda with almost concern. The pairs switched sides and Akazawa prepared to serve.

"Don't hit me anymore, Kisarazu da ne!" Yanagisawa called out from the baseline, still managing to remain cheerful.

"Oh, so now you remember my name," Kisarazu commented dryly, gripping his racquet handle glaring over the net.

The first serve went in, flying directly into the corner near the alley. Yanagisawa returned it smoothly with precision cross-court to the corner of the alley on the baseline. Akazawa examined the other side of the court for a moment before sending a lob over Kisarazu's head.

Kisarazu backed up, holding his racquet back, clearing intending to return the shot.

"I got it, da ne!" Yanagisawa called from the back as he ran towards the ball.

Kaneda winced from his position at the net when the two crashed into each other towards the center of the other side. Shortly after, the ball landed slightly behind the service line near the two. Somehow, the ball hit the frame of Kisarazu's racquet and sent the ball over the net down the middle. It was a slow ball, but both Akazawa and Kaneda were too busy watching the opposing pair to notice the ball had been miraculously returned.

"That was my ball," Kisarazu stated, untangling from Yanagisawa and standing up. "I could have gotten it."

"It was a lob, da ne," Yanagisawa stated from the ground. Pulling himself up, he grinned. "At least we got the point, da ne!"

Kisarazu blinked a few times and glanced at Nomura. The small boy at the pole nodded slightly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose nervously.

"Love-15…"

"It's pathetic but now pathetically interesting," Akazawa muttered to himself in amusement. Walking to the ad side of the court, he bounced the ball and served again.

Kisarazu returned the ball down the line, straight into the alley, sending the ball past Kaneda and towards the back corner. Akazawa ran to the other side to defend the back court while Kaneda moved to the side the other boy came from.

The returned ball was an approach shot on Kisarazu's side, about half way between both players. Yanagisawa and Kisarazu both yelled, "I got it!" and dived for the ball.

The ball was once again returned, this time as a drop shot, while Akazawa and Kaneda stared at the mess the other two had gotten themselves in.

Kisarazu's long red headband had gotten in the way of Yanagisawa's racquet and tangled itself around it. Yanagisawa just barely swung his racquet to send the ball over before the added weight the red headband tied to it send both of them to the ground once again.

"Love-30," Nomura managed to squeak. He too, stared at the dysfunctional doubles pair on the ground.

Mizuki twirled his hair around his finger, watching from the bench. Sighing, he commented, "This is a tennis team, not a circus."

The match continued with many similar events. However, they ended up on the ground much less. Yanagisawa continued to provoke Kisarazu, but strangely enough it made their combination stronger. The match ended with a reasonable 6-4 victory for Akazawa and Kaneda.

"Actually, you two don't complement each other as badly as I thought," commented Akazawa as they shook hands at the net. He smirked at Kisarazu who blinked rapidly at him in confusion. "I think you'll both do well in the future with some practice."

Before Kisarazu could say anything, Akazawa stepped off the court and sat down on the benches with Kaneda next to him. Mizuki immediately rose to speak with the captain while Nomura still stood at the pole, with no idea what to do next.

"I don't think we did so badly either da ne," Yanagisawa said cheerfully to his new partner. "Considering we're a new pair and all da ne…"

"We could have done better without the little accidents," Kisarazu said stonily. "You're supposed to be quiet during a match, you know."

"Of course I know, da ne!" Patting Kisarazu's back again, Yanagisawa said loudly, "Just how long do you think I've been playing tennis?! I didn't start yesterday!"

"Then _why_ did you still do it?" the other boy asked dryly, untying his red headband from his forehead to wipe his sweat.

"I was trying to help you da ne!"

Kisarazu was shocked. Utterly shocked. He silently wondered if Yanagisawa was born as confused as he felt at the moment. "Help me? Help _me_?! Are you serious? I wouldn't exactly call that _helping me_!"

"Ok, so maybe you were a little annoyed during the match, da ne," Yanagisawa began cheerfully as Kisarazu stared at him incredulously, "but didn't you notice? You played a little better and hit the ball harder every time da ne! I love playing tennis and I wanted you to relax da ne. You'd have more fun that way."

Brows furrowing, Kisarazu frowned. Thinking back, he closed his eyes and sighed quietly. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Yes, I am right, aren't I da ne?" Yanagisawa said loudly with a huge, goofy grin on his face.

"…you're still insufferable though."

"So, can I call you Atsushi da ne?"

"No."

"Why not da ne?"

"Because I just met you."

"Come on…"

"No."

"Please da ne?"

"No!"

-- --

"That was some impression we left on the team da ne," Yanagisawa laughed, falling back on the bed in the infirmary. "I had so much fun that day, da ne…"

"_You_ would have," Kisarazu said with a soft smile. "It took us a while to get used to each other though."

"True, but that was the most excitement I had in a while da ne!" the other boy exclaimed at the memory. "I'm just glad we're best friends now da ne."

Kisarazu laughed and rolled his eyes, but said nothing against his statement. It was pretty much true after all.

Their friendship was like melting snow in a palm. At first, it was hard and cold, difficult to adjust to the foreign coldness on exposed skin. However, after exerting some force and will, body heat will slowly melt the snow, turning it into water. Once melted, the snow that had become water is much more comfortable and easier to bear. After all, water is essential to life, much like friendship.

"YANAGISAWA!"

Grinning, Kisarazu stood up abruptly. "Look at that, Yanagisawa! Mizuki's looking for you! You should go out to meet him!"

"Oh, come on, Atsushi da ne!" Yanagisawa wailed.

Kisarazu simply grinned at his partner before stepping outside with a serious face to point Mizuki down the hall. Yanagisawa had always been looking out for him. It was nice to return the favor sometime.

"Kisarazu, you're hiding him, aren't you? You both are going to be in so much trouble!" Mizuki fumed with his now purple hair at the boy who stood in the doorway looking innocent.

"I don't know, Mizuki… I thought you liked purple…"

"TROUBLE, YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Mizuki-san, calm down!" Yuuta exclaimed, pulling the purple haired boy away, his face red from restraining his laughter.

Yanagisawa peeked out from the room, instantly spotted by Mizuki. "Ah! Now's a good time to run, isn't it, da ne?"

Laughing, Kisarazu grabbed the other boy by the arm and ran down the hall. They would be partners for a long time. After all, it was Yanagisawa who taught Kisarazu how to melt snow.

"COME BACK HERE!"

"Run faster, Atsushi da ne!"

"YANAGISAWA!"

Owari.

-----

**A/N:** Ah, gawd… x.X;; that was…difficult to write. Lol. I wrote and re-wrote this several times. I had a bit of a writers block for humor, so I decided to pick this up again. n.n;; Difficult indeed…

I don't know…I just have some trouble writing Yanagisawa in drama XD… this is the result of my sad attempt. Turned out more humorous than I expected and more of Kisarazu than I expected too, but generally I like it. I liked writing the tennis match. That was fun. XDDD Which brings up the tennis terms I used…

**Tennis terms:**

baseline – line on back of the court

alley – area on the sides of the court used in doubles

service line – horizontal line across the center of the court

ad side – left side (the right side is the deuce side)

Actually, I'm not even sure that was needed, but… Ah, oh well. XD

Thanks for reading, everyone! Leave a review if possible!


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